GUYANA has exported more than 499,872 tons of rice, as of yesterday, according to Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.

And he disclosed that several other shipments are still to be exported, placing the 500,000 tonnes export target in closer reach.
The actual export target for 2014 was 460,000 tons.“Other shipments are in the port for export. This means that we will attain another milestone, the first ever time that Guyana has exported 500,000 tons of rice in a single year ,” he said.
Dr. Ramsammy stated that the rice industry’s accomplishments have jettisoned the criticisms of several prominent members within the combined Opposition’s ranks.
“I recall several Opposition members criticizing me and urging me to curtain the expansion of production, because ‘we can’t sell so much rice’. But our position was that we stood ready to support our farmers and millers,” he said.
The Minister added that through Government’s support, the rice market is “ten times” what it was in 1990.
He blasted the combined Opposition, in particular A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), for their continued criticisms of the industry, despite the exceptional performance which improved annually.
“APNU did not acknowledge and congratulate the industry, particularly the farmers, for attaining a milestone that many Opposition members once proclaimed to be impossible – achieving a production of more than 633,000 tonnes of rice for 2014. This production is more than 20 per cent above last year’s and more than 20 per cent above the 2014 target,” Dr. Ramsammy said.
He highlighted too that, as compared with the combined Opposition, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has repeatedly congratulated and expressed its profound gratitude to the famers who invest massively in the rice industry and surpassed expectations and targets.
“Our farmers and millers have achieved way beyond what the Opposition and many of their friends thought was possible. In 2014, we (the PPP/C) again express our deepest gratitude to the rice farmers for the work they have done to continue the upward trajectory in production,” he concluded.
. The export mark of 400,000 tonnes was surpassed in mid-October, excluding a number of contracts for rice exports that still had to be met. The 500,000 tonnes of rice was the 2020 target for production; however, in 2011, for the first time, the 400,000-tonne mark was passed and this was repeated in 2012 and 2013. With the new export markets secured in 2014, Guyana’s rice exports are expected to reach about 550,000 tonnes in 2015
The country currently has export agreements with several countries in the Caribbean, as well as with Venezuela and Panama, among others. Also, arrangements for rice shipments to countries in West Africa are still being finalised.
The export in 2013 was 394,000 tonnes, from a production of 535,212 tonnes, which was far above the original target of 413,000 tonnes.
It is expected that someday Guyana will overcome the barrier to bring it in line with the world’s largest producers of rice. As such, focus is being placed on exploring new and emerging global markets, tackling the crucial and critical issues to facilitate increasing production.